BlackBerry Q10 lands in Canada on 1 May for $199, will cost $249.99 stateside

BlackBerry announced that its Qwerty-packed BlackBerry Q10 smartphone will land in its home country of Canada on 1 May. The launch in Canada signals wider availability worldwide as BlackBerry adds to its BlackBerry 10 arsenal.

The Waterloo-based company says the BlackBerry 10 will be available for $199 (£130) on Rogers, Bell and TELUS with a three-year service agreement. Announced in January alongside the BlackBerry Z10, the BlackBerry Q10 packs a full Qwerty keyboard, 3.1-inch 720p touchscreen, 1.5GHz dual-core TI OMAP 4470 processor, 2GB of RAM, NFC, microSD slot, and 8-megapixel rear camera.

BlackBerry was originally known for dominating the Qwerty space, so maybe the BlackBerry Q10 will rebirth that effect for the struggling company. We got a first look at the BlackBerry Q10 earlier this year.

BlackBerry has yet to announce a release date for customers in the UK or US. Several stores, including Carphone Warehouse, have made it available for pre-order so it should come sooner than later.

We'll keep you posted on further availability.

Update: BlackBerry has confirmed pricing for the Q10 in the US. It will be $249 on two-year contract, slightly more than the Galaxy S4, iPhone 5, HTC One, and BlackBerry Z10.